Brighton sweep past rivals Crystal Palace as Gómez nets stunning 51-metre strike

Brighton continued their scintillating run of form, securing a sixth consecutive victory across all competitions with a commanding 5-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace. The emphatic result moves the Seagulls up to second place in the table.

Fabian Hürzeler's side effectively wrapped up the contest inside the opening ten minutes, racing into a three-goal lead. A Pascal Groß cross led to the fourth-minute opener when the ball was deflected into the net. Shortly after came a moment of sheer brilliance: Olivier Boscagli won possession from Adam Wharton, allowing Diego Gómez to spot goalkeeper Benítez off his line and loft a sensational strike home from 51 metres out.

The visitors' afternoon went from bad to worse in the tenth minute when Yasin Ayari found the net following a neat backheel assist from Charalampos Kostoulas. The 19-year-old Greek international then got on the scoresheet himself early in the second half as Brighton continued to dominate. Palace substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta, making his return after a two-month absence, struck the crossbar before Jefferson Lerma saw a header rattle the post. Jack Hinshelwood rounded off the rout in the 84th minute to seal the five-star performance.